Koby Abberton speaks about how he "owes everything" to surfing and "love at first sight"
Surfer and former Bra Boys gang leader Koby Abberton has spoken about how he "owes everything" to the surfing and claims he has never been so happy.
He also says meeting his fiance, who is a model from Ukraine, was the "best thing" that has ever happened to him, when speaking in an interview with news.com.au about about how his life has changed.
Koby Abberton told news.com.au, "I’d be in jail or I’d be dead. I didn’t grow up the best and then my brother Sunny got me into surfing and I made a lot of money, but then I lost it all."
"I owe everything to surfing, but then when they charged my brother [Jai, with the murder of Sydney standover man Tony Hines] they froze all I had and I lost everything."
Koby and his brothers, Sunny and Jai, gained attention around the world with the release of Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water.
The documentary film released in 2007 is about the surf gang the Bra Boys from Sydney's Maroubra Beach.
It reportedly centres around the trials of Jai and Koby in relation to the murder of Anthony Gerard Hines in 2003, who was also a member of the Bra Boys.
Jai was acquitted of murder and Koby was given a suspended sentence of nine months on the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, according to News.com.au.
Jai reportedly told police Hines had tried to rape a girl and admitted he shot him in self defence.
Later, Koby moved to Bali where he met his fiance Olya Nechiporenko who is from Ukraine.
“It totally changed my life,” he said.
“It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.
"It was love at first sight, but also I credit all the love and compassion I have now to her."
The couple also have a 12-month old son.
It was also in Bali where he also became close to Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran before they were executed.
When talking about the pair he reportedly told news.com.au, "People make mistakes."
"Myself, I’ve been involved in things and those guys were like normal human beings and they were good people."
Koby also says it's interesting that his life has turned out to be very multicultural.
His brother's partners are both indigenous Australians and Jai has also reportedly converted to Islam.
“There were no Bra Boys at the Cronulla riots. Our creed stands for unconditional love, respect and support of those close to you regardless of race, gender and age,” he told news.com.au.
Koby's family is reportedly relocating to Bali, but he will work as a miner in Western Australia in a fly-in fly-out capacity.
A friend of Koby's also set up a suicide prevention network which he claims he will continue to help.
Koby claims up 10 people a day contact him online who say they are considering suicide.
“Life can be a beautiful thing.”
“It’s sad to see but if I can help stop kids and encourage them to get out of their rooms and go and jump into the surf, or go out with a skateboard, that’s good."
News break – July 11
